Virgin bags a 75pc stake of Assura Medical March 3, 2010 VIRGIN has fulfilled its long-term ambition of entering into the medical and healthcare sectors after acquiring a 75 per cent stake of Assura Medical. Under the deal, the new healthcare arm of Sir Richard Branson’s empire, Virgin Healthcare, will take control of Assura’s walk-in centre practice after coughing up £4m for the business. Assura will [...]
Carillion sees profits surge March 3, 2010 CARILLION has recorded a 16 per cent increase in profit thanks to a strong performance from its Middle East business. The British building and support services group yesterday revealed an underlying pre-tax profit of £182.2m in 2009, beating analysts expectations of £176.9m and up from £157.5m it posted in 2008. The company has defied the [...]
Daniel Stewart bolsters cash position before growth drive March 3, 2010 INCOMING Daniel Stewart boss Adam Wilson yesterday gave a bullish update on the state of play at the stockbroker, as it unveiled a £2m fundraising deal to complete the restructuring of its balance sheet. Daniel Stewart has conditionally raised £0.5m by placing 25m shares with investment firm Brainspark, giving it a 6.66 per cent stake. [...]
ROSE MULLS EARLY EXIT March 3, 2010 MARKS & Spencer executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose yesterday said he was likely to leave the company before his expected departure date of July 2011 – although he has no plans for an exit this year. Rose, who will be succeeded as chief executive on 1 May by Marc Bolland, the former chief executive of [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CARILLION’S RESULTS? March 3, 2010 CHRIS MILLINGTON | NUMIS “Good full-year figures and a confident statement [backed by a meaningful dividend increase] provide further confirmation of the group’s strong positioning and strategy in its markets. The shares have recently been weak in line with UK construction stocks.” ANDY BROWN | PANMURE “We believe that Carillion will be a beneficiary of [...]
CITY BROKER ISN’T JUST HORSING AROUND WITH NEW POLO VENTURE March 3, 2010 IT’S SET to be a good year for Daniel Fox-Davies, the jovial boss of City stockbroker Fox-Davies Capital. Foxy, you see, is a bit of a dark horse when it comes to his extra-curricular hobbies – along with running his oil and gas-focused brokerage, he spends much of his free time flying jets and helicopters, [...]
Taylor Wimpey upbeat despite large 2009 loss March 3, 2010 TAYLOR Wimpey posted full-year losses of £640.6m yesterday but said there were signs that the house-building market is on the up. The results were an improvement on last year when it recorded a deficit of £1.97bn. However, its revenue for 2009 slipped to £2.5bn from £3.4bn in 2008. The company said “improving conditions” had led [...]
DSG feels VAT effect on sales March 3, 2010 DSG International, Europe’s No.2 electricals retailer, has seen a slight slowing in its UK market following an increase in VAT sales tax, but is enjoying stronger trading elsewhere, its chief executive said. John Browett also said the group was making good progress with its turnaround plan and eight new megastores in particular exceeding its expectations [...]
Advisers steering cash into stocks March 3, 2010 A year-and-a-half after the depths of the financial crisis, independent financial advisers are slowly shifting client assets out of cash and back into the market, brokerage giant Charles Schwab said yesterday. Advisers are pulling money from cash and mutual funds to boost allocations to exchange-traded funds. They are also funneling more dollars into large-cap international [...]
M&A activity in state of flux March 3, 2010 THE days of highly leveraged private equity deals are over, financial research group Mergermarket declared as it published its 2009 round-up yesterday. Reporting a plunge in the value of transactions carried out in Europe last year, the firm predicted “sensible” mid-market deals would replace headline-grabbing mergers as the norm in the post-crisis landscape. Just under [...]